Speakers from Red Hat and Open ePolicy Group Join GOSCON

10-7-05	    NATIONAL OPEN SOURCE LEADERS TO SPEAK AT CONFERENCE
By David Stauth, 541-737-0787					SOURCE: Scott Kveton, 541-737-9922

	PORTLAND, Ore. – Three prominent advocates for the development of the open
source software industry in Oregon and the nation are now planning to join
the first annual Government Open Source Conference on Oct. 13-14 in
Portland.
	The event, sponsored by the Open Source Lab at Oregon State University, will
explore the potential use and value in federal, state and local government of
this rapidly evolving software concept. With these systems, source codes are
open and the software is freely available to anyone for their use,
improvement and adaptation to specific needs. Oregon academic, business and
political leaders believe the state can become a national leader in the
development of this industry.
	The upcoming conference has attracted increasing national interest in recent
weeks, and the speakers added to its agenda include Oregon Congressman David
Wu; Jeffrey Kaplan, founder and director of the Open ePolicy Group based at
Harvard University; and Tom Rabon, executive vice president of corporate
affairs for Red Hat, Inc.
	Wu will deliver the welcoming address, and has been a strong proponent for
both this software concept and Oregon’s role in developing it.
	“Oregon is at the forefront of the rapidly developing open technology
industry,” Wu said. “Open source is dramatically changing how businesses,
universities, non-profits and governments at all levels procure, develop and
support the essential software they use.”
	The keynote address at the conference will be presented by Rabon, who has
more than 25 years of experience in government and the private sector, and
will discuss the particular value of open source software in the public
sector. He leads government affairs and public policy initiatives at Red Hat,
one of the leading companies in the world in the distribution of open source
software, especially the Linux operating systems.
	Also making a presentation at the event will be Kaplan, who leads an open
source policy group at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard
University. This group recently released a “road map” for the development
of open information technology systems and how they can evolve. He cites open
source technology as a key to efficiency, innovation and competition in
everything from government to private enterprise and the global economy.
        “The fusion of globalization and technology has produced a way to
meet the demands of our high-speed, on demand world,” Kaplan wrote in one
recent article. “A potent combination of connectivity, access,
collaboration and transparency – or openness – is emerging as a catalyst
for change.”
	Information technology managers from 15 states are expected at the upcoming
conference, which will be held at the University Place Hotel in Portland. It
will feature many experts from industry, government, academia and other
agencies, discussing open source software case studies, return on investment,
implementation, security and other issues. More details on the event can be
obtained on the web at www.goscon.com
	The idea of open source software began in the 1990s and has expanded rapidly
in recent years, as increasing numbers of users around the world take
advantage of it. Aside from being free, open source software can offer
advantages in terms of flexibility, sophistication, easy adaptability to
specific needs, and less susceptibility to attack by some of the most common
computer viruses.
Support systems to aid in its use and development are evolving quickly, and
the Open Source Lab at OSU has become a national academic leader in the
compilation and free distribution of these software systems. The university
itself has become a large user of open source software, using this technology
for many of its research, support and educational needs, and saving
significant amounts of money in the process. 
	The market for hardware and software using the open source Linux operating
system has been estimated as high as $38 billion within five years.
	Most recently, Oregon political and business leaders have seen this field as
a potentially significant growth area for the state of Oregon.
	“The opportunities for the public and private sectors to partner in
support of the emerging open technology industry in Oregon is not only good
for our economy, but it will also help us deliver a more efficient,
accessible and accountable state government to the citizens of Oregon,”
said Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski.

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About the Oregon State University Open Source Lab: The Open Source Lab at
Oregon State University helps accelerate the adoption of open source software
across the globe and aid the community that develops and uses it.  The OSL
team of full-time staff and students provide custom open source software
development as well as hosting the world's largest open source projects,
including the Debian and Gentoo Linux operating systems, the Mozilla web
browser, the Apache web server, and many more.  For more information, visit
the Open Source Lab at Oregon State University web site at www.osuosl.org.